


As Deadly A Love As Russian Roulette

by rnarvel



Series: Marvel [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Adventures (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Blood, F/M, Injury, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-16 19:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4637037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rnarvel/pseuds/rnarvel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>S.H.I.E.L.D trains you to take down the bad guys. What about when you rescue one of them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Rescue of the Fallen

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don’t speak Russian, so any misspellings please feel free to correct me!  
> (I don’t own Marvel etc etc, characters created i.e Elissa are my own)

Elissa watched as Natasha took down the last Serbian with a back kick to the chest. They’d anticipated an unwelcoming tone due to their unwanted arrival, yet the two agents had taken longer than expected, attributable to the never ending stream of angry males arriving, ordered to take them down. The presumably injured man they were holding was blind, how many guards would they need to watch him?  
Natasha nodded to Elissa, the two worked together in a perfect harmony that could only be achieved by years of intense training. With trepidation, Elissa opened the cold metal door. Steam blew from the broken pipe above her, presumably from a misfired bullet. Serbian of course. She then followed Natasha through, her arm outstretched holding her gun apprehensively, and took her place behind her fellow agent, watching the door and looking for more exits.

In the centre of the room were two chairs. Surrounding them were pools of dark red, an alarming amount for just one man. As they approached the figures their senses heightened, not just by the fact only one man was supposed to be needing rescue, but this was a common trick for the enemy. To lure the agents to a false sense of security, only to have it snatched away by a moment of vacuous actions and lack of awareness. Fortunately for the blind man and the unknown figure next to him, Natasha and Elissa were experts in their field. They knew what they were doing, and more.

Natasha bent down to the man closest, Elissa caught the faint whisperings of “Murdock”, “It’s me” and “He’s with me”. She then diverted her attention to the other man, whose presence was hidden by shadows, yet she could tell his eyes were intently focused on her. As Natasha called for a safe landing of a helicopter, Elissa moved to the man draped in darkness. He spat out what she presumed was his own blood onto the concrete floor and muttered something in Russian. As Murdock cautiously moved forward, his injuries became noticeable. A large wound was causing him intense pain at his side, and his face was covered in cuts and swollen patches. Natasha then moved around to the back of the Russian, untying his hands as Elissa did the same to his feet. “окончательно” He murmured.

As Elissa helped him to his unsteady feet, he became visible from the limited window light. The man was badly beaten like the other, yet a large scar donned his face from just above his right eyebrow and covered his cheek, like someone had slashed him previously and he had left it untreated. He shifted his body weight onto her as Natasha helped Murdock to stand.  
“Велл?” weakly left the mouth of the man using Elissa as some kind of prop tool.  
“ждать” replied Natasha. “для других”.

_______________________________

Окончательно - finally  
Велл? – well?  
ждать - wait  
для других – for others


	2. Trapped in a Serbian Cell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don’t speak Russian, so any misspellings please feel free to correct me!  
> (I don’t own Marvel etc etc, characters created i.e Elissa are my own)

Elissa helped the scarred man onto the helicopter as Natasha instructed the pilot where to land. Agent May turned in her seat to face the pair of bruised and bloodied bodies.  
“Who is this?” She asked, her question directed to the Russian.  
“Vladimir. Vladimir Ranskahov.” answered Matt, leaving the man no time to reply himself.  
“Ranskahov. Is that Russian?” May asked as Elissa took the seat beside the pilot.  
“Да”. The man finally spoke up, his accent thick.  
“Great, another.” May jokingly smirked to Natasha, who was tending to the many cuts covering Murdock’s body. 

Standing up, Elissa approached the Russian, hesitant to if he even wanted her help. His face was hard to read. She sat next to the man who she now knew to be called Vladimir, and gestured for him to remove his jacket.  
“I don’t want you bleeding out.” She told him, as his jacket then blood soaked shirt slowly came over his head.  
As Elissa began to treat his many wounds before they got sufficient medical help, she noticed a large amount of ink covered his body. On his chest she saw stars, telling her he was a man of some status. The cross on his chest she was unsure of, but she took note of the skull on his bruised hand and was just able to make out the bikini clad woman on his bloodied arm. He had noticed her interest in his tattoos and his gaze was intently fixed on her face. In his thick accent he spoke:

“Most came from prison.”

Lovely, a convict. Not exactly the type of person she should be risking her life saving.

“Oh.” Elissa replied, raising an eyebrow. “Prison?”

“Да, prison. Siberia” 

“What were you doing in a Siberian prison?”

“Trying to break out.”

Vladimir fixed his gaze dead ahead. Elissa figured he had finished speaking, yet he carried on.  
“With my brother.” He added.

“Your brother?” Elissa began cleaned a large gash on his shoulder, causing a sharp intake of breath from the man she was helping.

“Anatoly. We should’ve gone to Москва like he wanted.”

Another sharp intake of breath came from him as Elissa wiped the blood off his next wound on his chest. Vladimir’s hands clenched and he remained silent for a while, eyes fixed straight in front as Elissa begrudgingly helped the convict, now knowing he was once in prison. When she had helped him enough so that he wouldn’t bleed out on the floor of Agent May’s helicopter, he nodded his presumed thanks to Elissa and she took her seat back at the front with May.

“How much longer?” She asked, stretching out against the reclining seat.  
“About 5 minutes. I heard your conversation before.” May turned her head to her fellow Agent. “Prison?”  
“I know. When we get back I’ll try and find out everything I can about Vladimir Ranskahov. He has a brother named Anatoly and they were in some kind of Serbian prison together, so that’s a start.”  
May nodded and turned her attention forward as they began to descend.  
_________________________________

Да – Yes  
Москва – Moscow


	3. "A Complication"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don’t speak Russian, so any misspellings please feel free to correct me!  
> (I don’t own Marvel etc etc, characters created i.e Elissa are my own)

Fisk slammed his hand down on the glass table, threatening to smash it into a thousand tiny pieces.  
“What do you mean there was a complication?”

The large man turned in rage to face the semi-circle greeting him with silence. He scanned all faces, eyes bulging, from Nobu, to Leland, to Francis, and his confidant Wesley.

“Forgive me,” Fisk’s eyes then reached Madame Gao, “I know this is not your fault.”  
She nodded in acknowledgment, yet no words left her pursed lips. With anger equalling Fisk’s, Anatoly threw open the door, his sudden presence being noticed by all.

“Where is my brother?” He yelled, accent thick with fury, footsteps quickening with every stride to the group he took. “Where is he?”

Wesley began to respond to the Russian, who was seething with rage as he looked for answers. “There was a complic-“

“-Well isn’t that a word we’re hearing more often.” Leland cut in. “A complication. Yes this, man in the mask, is he not?”

“He was part of the problem, yes. The Serbian’s were supposed to stand guard while your brother finished him off, but looks like they were all taken out.”

“Taken out? By who? Some mudak in another mask maybe? Some идиот who is weakening the operation, again, no?” Anatoly stepped towards Wesley, whose eyes closed slightly and head jerked to the side, questioning the Russian’s stance as he refused to move. 

“No.” Fisk looked towards Anatoly. “Some.. agents, we believe. They’re not with us.”

“So they’re against us.” Leland again, interrupted. “Great. Just what we need. More people in-“  
“Agents?” Anatoly enquired. “What kind? Russian, Britis-“  
“Oh well I suppose if they were Russian this wouldn’t matter. Maybe they would even help raise the numbers you and your brother are lacking.” Leland responded, causing tensions to rise among their company.  
“You speak of my brother like he is not here. You’re right. Where is he? Was this you? Yo-“

In one sudden action Fisk threw the table across the room, the contact with the glass and the wall so fierce that this time, it did break. The table was left scattered across the concrete floor, light reflecting from the shards into the dimly lit meeting place.

“This.. complication.. must be fixed.” Fisk spoke with heavy breaths and a deeper voice. “Find them. The agents. Kill them.”

“And my brother?” Questioned Anatoly.

“FIND THEM.” Yelled Fisk, voice resonating around the large room, bouncing off the bare walls and hitting the eardrums of the people gathered only a few meters in front of him. Wesley took this as his queue to leave and follow his employer’s demands, taking Francis with him. Anatoly stood for a moment, watching Fisk, whose hands were shaking with the sudden anger release that had arisen from him. Madame Gao rose slowly from the one seat in the room, nodded at the men and decided it was her turn to leave.  
“Please er, let me walk you out.” Leland buttoned up his jacket and turned on his heels. Anatoly then followed, with silent Nobu close behind.   
The door slowly shut. Fisk was breathing deep and fiddling with his cufflinks in an attempt to calm himself. The fragmented glass was left on the floor, reflecting the life of Hell’s Kitchen into the room.  
________________________  
Идиот - idiot


	4. “An Intelligence Organisation, Lacking Intelligence”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elissa tricks the younger Ranskahov into a position of weakness as she learns to deceive him to get information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is anyone reading these parts? (aka do you want me to carry on this story?)
> 
> Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don’t speak Russian, so any misspellings please feel free to correct me!  
> (I don’t own Marvel etc etc, characters created i.e Elissa are my own)

Two agents were on standby as soon as the helicopter touched the ground, and both Vladimir and Matt were taken to get medical attention. Greeting the rest, Maria Hill walked towards them holding two folders. The one she handed to Natasha was labelled “Murdock”, and the one she handed Elissa was titled “Ranskahov’s.”

“I need information on these men. Seeing as..” Hill looked down towards the piece of paper she was holding. “..Vladimir Ranskahov has a brother, I’ll need info on him too. Unfortunately we still have to keep hard copies of everything, so upload them onto the database when you’ve finished then print them out into these.”  
Natasha and Elissa nodded, thanked May, and made their way towards the main building.

“I think I know Matt well enough already to not need to practically Google him to make a file.” Romanoff told Elissa as the glass doors opened automatically for them.

“Maybe you can take Vladimir’s brother as well then. I know nothing about either of them.” Elissa countered.

“Well that’s not strictly true, he did tell you they were convicts. Serbia?”

“He did. What are we supposed to tell Fury? Great to see you alive and everything, by the way Hell’s Kitchen’s problems were caused by a man in a mask. He’s not some kind of bad guy like we thought, or even a skilled superhero, he’s blind and Nat often finds him beaten up a lot. There’s also a Russian convict with him currently in medical. His brother will probably come looking for him with some kind of small Russian army, but at least you can count the mission as a success.” 

“Yeah,” Laughed Natasha as they sat down in front of large tables. “Exactly that.”

Elissa pressed a button that produced two holographic laptop screens. With a few touches into the air she accessed S.H.I.E.L.D’s database and began looking for everything filed under ‘Ranskahov’, whilst Natasha searched through ‘Murdock’.  
___________________________  
“You find anything?” Natasha asked her fellow agent, who she saw was reclined as far into the seat as she could go, hood over her head and feet on the desk. 

“An intelligence organisation lacking intelligence, but I think I’ve got enough for now. Vladimir Ranskahov. Male. Russian. Held in some kind of prison, Utkin. Now in America. That’s literally it. We have nothing on these guys.”

“What about his brother?”

“Anatoly Ranskahov. Male. Russian. Held in some kind of prison, Utkin. Now in America.” She tossed the folder onto the desk then watched it fall onto the floor. “Murdock?”

“Matthew Murdock. Son of “Battling Jack” and Maggie Murdock. His father was murdered by “The Fixer” after winning a fight he was told to lose. He was blinded by chemicals in his eyes and he has heightened senses, I could go on if-“

“That’s fine.” Elissa interrupted. “Let’s just store these.”  
_____________________________

Walking through the brightly-lit corridors of medical, Elissa’s eyes glanced through the glass windows in an attempt to find the blonde hair Ranskahov. After a long and arduous fifteen minutes, she walked through the door that behind, was him.

“Вы пришли, чтобы увидеть меня ?” He asked, eyebrows furrowed as he watched her take the seat across from his bed.

“I like to check up on the people whose asses I save from death.”

“I could’ve saved myself. I didn’t need help.”

“Please. If I’d have left you there you’d have bled out on the spot. What were you even doing? Trying to kill the masked man?”

“Да. I would have, if you hadn’t interrupted.” He snapped.

“Interrupted?” Elissa stood up from the chair, anger pulsing throughout her. “I can’t believe this. You know when someone saves your life by taking down 20 Serbian men, in my experience, people are usually grateful. Or I don’t know, nicer.”

“In your experience? As what? I never asked for help-"

“I regret giving you it. I probably should’ve just left you there should I?”

“штиль, принцесса. Fine, maybe if not for you I would’ve.. bled out.”

The room fell silent for a while as Vladimir began to trace the outline of one of his deeper scars on his arm, then frowned as he realised just how many stitches littered his body and cut into his many tattoos. One of the worst affected was the large cross on his chest.

“Does this mean you're no longer of status now then?” Smirked Elissa in a small attempt to lighten the mood.

“I was a Prince of Thieves.”

“Before or after Utkin?”

Vladimir’s eyes snapped up to reach the person who dared know more of his past than he had told, let alone talk about it out loud. He had only told her he was in a Serbian prison, nothing too specific. What else did she know?

His voice low yet accent thick, Vladimir slowly rose to approach the agent standing in his path. “Utkin? How do you know of Utkin?”

Elissa crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow. “It would be unwise to underestimate me, Vladimir. They tortured you and your brother didn't they. That's how you got that facial scar isn't it? Torture?”

She stepped towards Vladimir slowly, thinking about how this could work to her advantage. He didn't know how much or even how little she knew. Maybe she could trick him to tell her?

“And it would be unwise of you to take that tone.” He replied, face a mixture of anger and frustration at someone knowing such information. Vladimir’s jaw clenched at the thought of just how much this unknown woman knew.

“You're wondering how I know aren't you?” Elissa stepped towards Vladimir, almost closing the space between them. No-one could intimidate her. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk about the rest tomorrow.” 

With her definite final tone, she walked out of the medical room, giving Vladimir one last look. Yes, she could definitely play this to her advantage.  
_________________________

Вы пришли, чтобы увидеть меня ? – you came to see me?  
Да - yes  
штиль принцесса – calm, princess


	5. Silence is the Ultimate Weapon of Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vladimir knows he's underestimated Elissa when she threatens him with someone close to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don’t speak Russian, so any misspellings please feel free to correct me!  
> (I don’t own Marvel etc etc, characters created i.e Elissa are my own)

Elissa knocked on the chipped paint that covered the door. It had been two weeks since she last saw Vladimir and finally she was sent to tell him he was given the all clear, yet had to remain under SHIELD’s watchful eye. Thanks to Matt Murdock, she had gained slightly more knowledge on the Russian that increased her chances of finding a way to deal with him, and fast. The masked man was initially on SHIELD’s radar, but now they were uncovering an even bigger organisation building itself up in Hell’s Kitchen.  
Stepping into the room she smiled at the frowning man on the hospital wing bed before sitting on the chair opposite.

“Had a fun time?” She enquired, before Vladimir mumbled a ‘yes’ and altered his position so that he was sat up, facing her.

“We need to talk.” 

“You’ve had две недели to talk while I was sat in this room. All day all night, people came to check monitor, check I’m not dead. No-one says a word.”

“Good. They’re not supposed to. Your stay at SHIELD isn’t going to be the friendliest I’m afraid. However much better than Utkin.”

Just as they did when she’d first dared utter the phrase, Vladimir’s eyes snapped up to meet her hazel ones before she spoke again:  
“Shall we talk then?” 

____________________

Even though his legs were naturally longer, he found himself having to walk quicker than his normal pace to keep up with the agent in front of him. Elissa walked down a long corridor before finding the door she needed and opening it for him to step in before her.

Vladimir sat down on the chair facing the mirror. “слишком очевидно” he thought to himself, moving the chair towards the steel table.  
Looking around, the room was clearly an interrogation room. A two way mirror covered one wall whilst the other three were left cold and bare. There were a grand total of three grey chairs in the room, two opposite him, with one being used by Elissa. The table was scratched and grey, like the life and colour had been suctioned out of the room, and there were two cameras. One on the top corner to his left watching his every move, and turning his head, Vladimir saw the other in the corner directly opposite to the other.

“So, Vladimir Ranskahov. What are you doing in America?”

“Business.” He leaned forward to rest his forearms on the table.

“What kind?”

“None of yours.” Vladimir smirked, then turned his gaze to the mirror behind. “How many agents are in there?”

“I’m the one asking questions. What business are you doing here, in America?”

“Important business.”

“Yes, the distribution of cocaine I would imagine is such an important job.”

He frowned and turned his head to her. “How do you know this?”

“I told you before, it would be unwise to underestimate me. You’re a cog in the grand scheme of things aren’t you? Not quite the man at the top but you’re of somewhat importance.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“I guess your brother is involved too. Anatoly?”

Silence came from the Russian and Elissa knew his brother would be the weak spot. Every person they’d interrogated in this room had something they cared about. Opening her black bag that was on the chair next to her she produced two photos. One was of Anatoly on the phone, and the other was him talking to someone.  
“Underestimation is the key to a downfall, Vladimir. We know about you and your brother. We know you work for a man in Hell’s Kitchen who’s rising to power. You’re involved with some other people, like this man for example. Who is he?”

Vladimir sat back for a moment before narrowing his eyes. “What do I get if I tell you?”

“Your brother’s safety.” 

Anger flashed across his face before he murmured words in Russian, incomprehensible but hopefully they could pick it up later when re-watching the footage. He leaned forward and his grip on the table tightened, knuckles turning white.  
“No-one lays hands on my brother.” He replied, accent thick with rage. “The man is called Wesley, I do not know his first name. He comes to us when.. his employer wants something. More work done there, to stop masked man being problem..-“

“Who’s his employer?” asked Elissa.

Vladimir rubbed his chin with his tattooed hand before leaning back again.

“нет. You can find out yourself if this, SHIELD, is so smart. You would do better than to hurt my brother too. He has been through worse.”

Placing her finger to her ear, Elissa raised an eyebrow to the Russian and spoke:  
“Plan A didn’t fully work. Moving to plan B.”, before leaning across the table and punching Vladimir directly in the face.

__________________

две недели – two weeks  
слишком очевидно – too obvious  
нет - no


	6. Underestimation Is a Dangerous Move In War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vladimir is beaten as Elissa attempts to extract information, yet he is left angry and frustrated as he underestimates her again. Elissa reveals just how much she really knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don’t speak Russian, so any misspellings please feel free to correct me!  
> (I don’t own Marvel etc etc, characters created i.e Elissa are my own)

Vladimir winced as he took continuous punches. Elissa was small, yet she had a force that matched that of the Russian mafia. Blood trickled down his undoubtedly broken nose and his mouth was full of red liquid, which he spat inelegantly onto the interrogation room floor. He let out a weak laugh to match his slowly forming wolfish grin before forcing out;  
“Is this legal?”

Elissa smirked and suddenly kicked the leg of the chair so that Vladimir hit the floor on his side and the man groaned in pain.  
“Probably not, but SHIELD doesn’t take threats to safety lightly. I’ll ask you again, who is your employer?”

Vladimir gripped his side that had harshly made contact with the concrete floor and looked the agent dead in the eye.  
“Fine. I’ll tell you, but bring my brother to me.”

“We can drop you back off so you’re with him Vladimir, but I’m not bringing another one of you here.”

Slowly adjusting his position so he was sitting up, Vladimir grimaced as his injuries caught up with him. Elissa knew that she’d given him at least a broken nose, one broken rib and a hell of lot of skin abrasions, yet Murdock had told her about the human trafficking. This was the least she could do.  
Drawing in breath, the Russian spoke. He had become more lazy with his accent and pronunciations as the ‘interrogation’ had progressed, yet it was really more of a one sided fight. He couldn’t begin to match the speed of the agent, let alone block all of her hits. “Fisk.” He spat out.

Elissa laughed and Vladimir frowned at her reaction. She leant back on her chair and rested one arm on the back of it.

“Wilson, I know.”

Vladimir eyes grew larger in shock and anger at her, he rose to his feet and disregarded the immense pain he felt.   
“You knew? You KNEW? You какашка” He slammed his bloodied, tattooed hands on the table. “Tell me, you блядь, why have I wasted time here?” 

“I told you, SHIELD doesn’t take lightly to threats. But I personally, don’t take lightly to human traffickers.”

“How did you know?” He growled at the agent before kicking the partially broken chair into the mirror.

“You’re not a good listener are you? I’ve already told you at least twice to never underestimate me, Vladimir. Underestimation is a dangerous move in a war.”

“Who told you?” He snapped. Elissa laughed again at the sheer temper this angry Russian had.

“You can thank the man in the mask for that.”  
She rose to her feet, smiled sarcastically at Vladimir and walked towards the door. She opened it a fraction before pausing and turning round to him.   
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Anatoly will be fine.”  
The agent barely had time to fully close the door before a chair was launched in her direction.

________________

Какашка – piece of shit  
Блядь - bitch


End file.
